BML
by Star Tiger1
Summary: Yet another rewrite of "Bring Me to Life"... trying to actually make it have a point this time... .
1. 0 Prologue

Bring Me to Life

Prologue:

"… go there and bring me his prized possession."

Eyes narrowing, they locked on the robed figure at the front of the room, "Now what the hell makes you think I can even _do_ that?"

"You're the best I have, and if the best I have cannot even bring me his head, then what good is it to keep him around?"

"And what makes you think I _will_ do it?"

"Did I not make myself clear?" The figure at the front asked, "If you will not fulfill your purpose, then why need I keep you around to grant you your own wish? If you shan't grant me mine, why should I grant yours? Understand?"

From the shadows, his eyes narrowed further, "Fine. I will bring you the Demon's prized possession. Just leave Sen out of this."

"But of course. I shall send him on a separate quest and have him meet you elsewhere."

Nodding, he turned his back on the man at the front without bowing to him — the standard procedure for whenever they met — and headed to the door to collect his weapons and then pack up for his new journey.

Making sure the younger man left, the robed man made a motion with his hand while speaking to a guard to his right, "Send the other in."

"Ow!" Another young man exclaimed as he was practically tossed into the room, "You didn't hafta push me…"

"Sen, come forward. I have an assignment for you."

Stepping closer to the man at the front on his fine throne — whose wood was rumored to have come from the Forest of Death itself, Aokigahara — Sen rubbed the back of his neck while looking up at the man he served… for now, "What is it?"

"I have sent your… partner to do battle against someone whose power I wish to have him estimate. I want you to follow him without letting him know he's being followed…"

"That's impossible!"

"… and then I want you to bring me his head."

Sen's eyes widened as his breath seemed to be ripped from his chest, "W-Wh… What?!"

"I have a feeling that your dear partner will attempt to betray me, and if he does so, my remaining forces will be no match for him, since you would also join him, of that I have no doubt. So I want you to eliminate him before he has the chance."

"B…B-But he's my teacher! I only know what I know because he taught me! There's nothing I can do that could possibly even _hurt_ him, much less _kill_ him! No, I _won't_ do it!"

"You have no choice," the robed figure at the front said with a seemingly amused expression on his face, "I order you to kill your partner. Either before or after he does his task, it matters not. I merely needed to keep him busy. All the same, if you can't kill him, then you had better hope his opponent can… and hope that he has enough mercy to kill you as well, or else your death will be slow and merciless from my hands. Or, if you come back having failed miserably, you will never know the name of your fiancée's killer."

Growling at all the blackmail that was being thrown at him, Sen realized he really did have no choice. Kill his friend and teacher or else never find the son of a bitch that had had the nerve to kill his bride-to-be.

Bastards. Both of them.

"What happens if I try to kill him and he manages to find out what's going on and comes to fight against you anyway?"

A glint appeared from beneath the cloak's protection where Sen assumed the man's eyes must be, "Then don't tell him. Take that information with you to the grave."

Great, so his employer practically expected him to die. Wonderful.

Bowing at the waist, Sen straightened himself as he turned on his heel to leave. How the hell was he supposed to hide this? His partner could read him like a book written in big bold letters, and secret-keeping really wasn't his forte…

Entering their shared bedroom — definitely not ideal conditions for secrets, as his partner could ask him questions while he slept and he wouldn't know — he was glad to find it empty.

"What did he ask of you?"

Nearly jumping out of his skin at the question, Sen spun around to find his partner waiting for him behind the door, four foot long sword at his waist, "How long have you been waiting there?!"

"Ever since I heard your footsteps coming down the hall. Answer my question."

Sen attempted to shrug it off, "Can you believe he's actually sending me off on a murder?"

"You're shitting me."

"Nope, got me a murder assignment." Sen said with a smirk as he moved to sit down on his futon on the left side of the room.

"Who are you going after? Can't be anyone important or else you'd have said 'assassination', so for it to be murder must just be someone getting in the way…"

Sen shrugged, "Yea, something like that. Nothing you need to worry yourself with. So what are you doing? Is he sending you anywhere?"

"Nothing too big. Just a basic pick pocketing to be honest. More your work than mine. I wonder if perhaps they didn't mix our jobs."

"No, they didn't," Sen said, checking the room quickly, "because then my murder job would become your suicide."

His partner's eyes widened… just before he burst out laughing, "Me? They want _you_ to try and kill _me_?"

Too miffed to see any hilarity in it, Sen merely crossed his arms over his chest, "Thank you for your doubt in my abilities."

"Come now, be honest with yourself. What skills do you have that could even _hit_ me? You couldn't kill me, Sen-san. You're too damn emotional, attached."

Sen's jade eyes turned reflective, internalizing and burning this moment into his brain, "We've been together for a while now, right?"

"Since we were kids, yes. You've been a pain in my ass ever since."

"Could you… if you had to… could you….?"

"You ask the dumbest questions sometimes, you know that, Sen?"

Sighing, Sen lowered his eyes, chin resting on his chest. His partner was right, that question had been pretty dumb. They both knew that, if it came down to it, his partner wouldn't hesitate to kill him. He would do it without any feelings of guilt or attachment.

"Who are you being sent to pick pocket?"

A chuckle met his question, "A war god on earth, followed by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

"And that means… what, exactly?"

"It means, Sen, that we're going to encounter the greatest swordsman alive."

Sen's eyes widened. There was only one man his partner held in such reverence as to call him a war god come to earth:

Demon Eyes Kyo.


	2. 1 Chap

24.4.2008

A/N: Wee! An update! Hope you like it.

**Chapter One:**

**Choosing Sides**

"_Doesn't that foolish girl ever know when to shut up?_"

"I mean it, Kyo! Where did you put it _now_?"

The red-eyed samurai merely wore his usual, "I don't give a shit," face, clearly ignoring her as always.

Fuming Yuya growled her frustration and went back to where Benitora had picked a fight with Sasuke over who got the last roll. At least there was _someone_ around here she could bully and get away with a satisfactory result.

Pausing their battle, both Benitora and Sasuke looked on as she sat down, "What's the matter Yuya-han?"

"Kyo took my wallet… again."

"Aww, Yuya-han," the tiger began, giving Sasuke a look that said they would continue their feud later, "Kyo-han's had your wallet for two days now."

Now sporting a nice red replica of Yuya's hand on his cheek, Benitora sat back as Akira chimed in, "You'll never learn, will you?"

Mumbling something in response, Benitora didn't even seem to notice tat Sasuke had stolen his roll after all. He was too worried about Yuya-han. She just seemed so… un-her. It was enough to make him upset with Kyo, too.

Couldn't he lay off the teasing for one day? Just one? Yuya knew they would head out soon — Kyo seemed restless over at his spot by the small stream — but she just didn't feel like moving. Ever. What was the point anyway? All she ever did was slow everyone down. Kidnappings, murder attempts… all done under the claim that she was Kyo's most prized possession.

Mibu assassins certainly did have quite the sense of humor, didn't they? Prized possession… ha!

She'd wandered a little ways from the group, but she just wanted some alone time for once. Of course, whenever she wanted to be alone, she usually got attacked.

No rest for the wicked, it seemed…

And Kyo would _definitely_ know all about _that_. At times she was sure he prided himself on it.

Rustling off to her right grabbed her attention, and she debated whether or not to investigate, though Mibu assassins didn't usually make noise…

"Get off me!" A female voice. More rustling, "Please, stop it, you're hurting me!"

That decided it.

Not caring at all for her safety, Yuya drew her three-barreled gun, readied it to fire, and sped through the undergrowth, aware of footsteps behind her but not caring at the moment, too intent on saving whoever was out there.

"Shut up, no one cares; no one's going to save you." A man's voice hissed, Yuya coming to a halt and hiding behind a tree, trying to catch a peek at the attacker.

He was a tall man, probably six feet three inches tall at the least, while his victim was only just barely over five feet, struggling against him and raking him with her nails and biting whenever she could… until he captured both of her wrists in one of his, looming over her like a thundercloud over a sapling, her kimono ripped and slightly bloody.

Taking careful aim, Yuya waited for the attacker to sit back up again, she finally got her chance and fired, a bullet catching him just on the side of his left arm, the sound of gunfire causing the woman to scream, her face covered in blood from a wound above her right eye.

Scratch that. She didn't _have_ a right eye. At least, not anymore.

Yuya turned her attention to the attacker, his light brown hair loose about his shoulders, clutching at his injured arm as Benitora, Sasuke, and Akira appeared.

"What happened, Yuya-han?"

"I caught him," she said, jerking her gun barrel in the man's direction, "attack her…"

The woman on the ground — bloody and missing her right eye — cried out despite her wounds, "Attacking me? He was _trying_ to _untie_ me! The attacker's over _there_, dead, as he should be."

Following the young woman's gaze, Yuya saw the body of a gruff man with a needle sticking out of the back of his neck, hakama around his ankles.

"Oh no…" Yuya muttered, Benitora rushing to catch her as she fainted.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but… a little help _would_ be nice…" The young man said, still clutching his arm and looking sheepish.

Later that night…

Green eyes opened as she woke to a pounding headache. What in the world had happ-…?

"_He was trying to untie me!_"

She had shot a man. An innocent man… if that didn't mark her as worthless, what did?

"Y-Yuya-han? Are you awake?"

She turned onto her side, not wanting to talk to anyone right now but unable to stop herself from replying, "Go away…"

"Aww, c'mon Yuya-han," the tiger sighed, kneeling beside her, "we all know it was an accident."

"He was innocent."

"Everybody makes mis-…"

"Kyo doesn't," she half snapped, "Kyo _never_ makes mistakes, because Kyo's _perfect_, right? He must be to have so many admirers, right?"

Realizing he wasn't going to be able to reach her right now, Benitora left her alone. Someone came and took his place. Two of them.

"We forgive you."

The voices were familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, so much so that Yuya had to look over her shoulder to see who had spoken.

A man with his left arm in a makeshift sling.

A woman with bloody bandages over her right eye.

Yuya looked away, "No you don't."

"I do," the man said softly, "really. I would've assumed the same thing."

"Of course you would. You're a pervert." The woman stated in a partially indignant tone.

"That's the beside the point."

"And he doesn't deny it…?" The woman muttered.

"Please, Shiina, Yuya-san — yes, we've heard of you — please believe us when we say we forgive you. It was an honest mistake."

Sitting up to face them, Yuya still got shivers when looking at their injuries, "Really?"

"Really," the man said, bowing slightly as his light brown hair fell over his jade eyes, "I'm Shirogane, Toge. This is my friend…"

"Shira. Nomori, Shira. Please we are to meet you." The young woman smiled softly.

"We would even like to hire you for your services." Toge smiled.

"W-What? What for?"

Shira touched her fingertips to her cheek, just beneath her missing eye, "To find the man who took my eye."

Yuya was puzzled and she knew it was noticeable in her voice, "You mean damaged, ne?"

"No, I mean took. Cut it out of its socket and ran away with it as it bounced about in a tin cup. He ran away, leaving his partner to do as he pleased with me. When you heard me screaming, Toge was already taking care of him. That other man took my eye. I want it back."

Blinking her confusion, Yuya attempted to change the subject, "So… what are you doing all the way out here?"

"We were supposed to be following the man who ended up stealing my eye. That plan didn't work out too well. He had valuable information and somehow got behind us."

Toge smiled, "Our, er, employer won't be happy when hefinds out we're gonna take longer than expected."

"He can wait," Shira scoffed, "without us to do his dirty work, he's nothing. No matter what he holds over our heads, we do what we want, _when_ we want. Sooner or later, he'll see what side we're on, and when he does, I will laugh."

Toge sniffed, looking from Shira to Yuya and back again, "Um… whose side _are_ we on, anyway?"

Shira's one gray eye hardened, "Ours."


End file.
